This article is for Microsoft Windows XP.

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This article describes troubleshooting computers that are powering up correctly and passing the Dell BIOS screen at boot-up, but do not successfully boot to Microsoft Windows

1. Verify the Computer Finishes Initial Power-Up (POST)

In many cases a computer will not attempt to hand off control to the operating system. If you power the computer on and you see a Dell logo screen with a bar at the bottom, and that bar fills up completely and disappears, then your computer has successfully completed POST.

5. Boot the Computer into Safe Mode

Start the computer.

Repeatedly tap F8, on the keyboard, immediately after the Dell logo screen disappears until you see the Windows Advanced Options Menu on the screen.
(If the Windows Advanced Options Menu does not appear, restart the system and try again.)

Select Safe Mode and press Enter.

Log on as the administrator or as a user with administrative access. If your computer does not boot to Safe Mode, select from the following options to troubleshoot. Otherwise, proceed to Step 5.

If you are able to successfully boot to Safe Mode, check your computer to see if any new software or hardware was recently installed. If so, try uninstalling those programs or hardware from your computer.

7. Check for Recent Changes

If you are able to successfully boot to Safe Mode, check your computer to see if any new software or hardware was recently installed. If so, try uninstalling those programs or hardware from your computer.

9. Use System Restore to Revert to a Previous State

Windows XP contains a feature known as System Restore to roll back changes to the computer based on "restore points" that are commonly scheduled by Windows. This functionality is available through Windows Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

10. Use Clean-Boot Troubleshooting to Isolate the Software Issue

A program or application may be interfering with the normal boot process of Windows. Microsoft has created a detailed process for isolating a startup program that is causing Windows to not boot correctly.